Video is a relatively recent phenomenon on LinkedIn, having only been introduced in August 2017. Suffice to say, though, that video – as well as visual content more generally – has taken the professional platform by storm. If you’re in the habit of idly scrolling through your feed, this trend will probably not have escaped your attention. You may have even spent some time hitting play, watching product demos, industry presentations, meet-the-team features and other bits and pieces of filmed content. But have you considered creating your own LinkedIn video marketing strategy? If not, now’s the time.
If you’re a B2B enterprise, LinkedIn is a must. But even if you’re B2C, it could still be worthwhile building up your brand on a network that boasts over a half a billion users. Plus, LinkedIn marketing isn’t just for social selling – it’s also a great platform for attracting top talent to your business.
So, let’s take a look at why you need a LinkedIn video marketing strategy – and how to get started with LinkedIn video.
Step 1: What are Your LinkedIn Marketing Objectives?
‘Mission creep’ can affect politicians and military strategists alike; it can also affect marketers. As such, it is critical to be clear about one’s objectives from the outset. There is really no sense in filming a bunch of great videos and then adopting a scattershot approach on social media, flinging them out with no particular focus in mind.
In order to create videos that yield results, it is imperative to decide on achievable objectives. What will each video accomplish? Is it about boosting brand awareness, providing troubleshooting for common problems, generating web traffic, increasing engagement, recruiting talent, creating a buzz for an upcoming product, attracting sign-ups, notifying viewers of a change in staffing? Whatever you do, make sure your video, and your overall LinkedIn video marketing strategy, has a clear aim. That way, you’ll be able to create content to specifically help you achieve those goals.
For example, if you want to generate more leads from LinkedIn, then you’d need to focus on videos that educate, inform and engage. If you want to recruit talent, then you’d need to show off your company and why it’s such a great place to work. If you want to boost engagement, then you’d need to create short, engaging videos – and so on and so forth.
Step 2: Coming up With Ideas: Which Videos Can Help You Meet Your Objectives?
Each video, based on your goal, will be different. Want to recruit a new designer? Put a slick video together showing your designers doing their stuff or impress the would-be recruit with a collage of award-winning work your team has handled in the past.
But if you’re at the initial ideation stage and you’re not sure what kind of video will work best, scroll through your feed and seek inspiration from competitors and other big brands that have locked down their LinkedIn video marketing strategy.
Netflix is a good example of a company that nails their marketing goals, consistently. It’s no surprise that this video that gives viewers a glimpse of the LA headquarters and features snippets of presentations discussing technology that enables them to bring their creative projects to the small screen helps peel back the curtain and gives you a behind the scenes look at a major player in entertainment. I don’t know about you, but after watching that, I want to work there.
HP is another company who knows how to engage followers – and they’re not afraid of pushing out product-led videos, as with this recent one publicizing the reinvented HP OfficeJet Pro.
While the first video from Netflix was likely used for educational and recruiting purposes, this video is reaching their small business customers, who are likely to be on LinkedIn, and selling them this great reinvented printer. These videos have over 85,000 views each — clearly, they are doing something right.
As for how to actually create all of these videos without spending a fortune, there are now a multitude of content creation tools for videos that feature templates, drag-and-drop builders and very easy-to-use editing features for complete beginners. Regardless of your level of experience, you can develop and achieve your LinkedIn video marketing strategy.
Step 3: Planning, Scheduling and Monitoring Your Results
There are tons of excellent video-editing apps online, many of them even free, but as far as your LinkedIn video marketing strategy is concerned, one of the most vital considerations is scheduling: the question of when to post your videos, and how often. There’s no magic bullet. But there are scheduling tools and calendars that can help you develop your video development schedule and ultimately posting schedule. These tools also come equipped with resources that can help you monitor results.
Because of the nature of video – and the fact that it generally takes longer to create than usual social media posts – it’s essential that you prepare your content ahead of time and simply schedule it. Otherwise, you’ll probably miss opportunities to use video or create low quality content simply because you’re rushing to get things done and published.
Beyond scheduling and managing your engagement, you can also check and monitor your analytics for LinkedIn in order to stay on top of your results and understand what works and what doesn’t – and then act accordingly.
Conclusion
LinkedIn video marketing is a tool you simply cannot afford to overlook. If you’re already leveraging LinkedIn, then getting on the video marketing bandwagon should be a no-brainer. While it might not be as popular as Facebook or Instagram, it is an incredibly powerful marketing tool – one that sends over 50 percent of all social traffic to B2B websites and blogs.
The original version of this article was first published on V3Broadsuite.
- Why Yes, You Do Need a LinkedIn Video Marketing Strategy - August 5, 2019
